Salvos

Now entering [Lair: Centinels Cornucopia]!

I peered through the hole in the wall— at the rotten remains of hundreds of Humans. But there weren’t just Humans even though they clearly dominated the pile; there were also corpses of fish and marine life… or rather, former life. I was going to assume that, judging from what the Humans wore, they were mostly adventurers.

People who ventured into the Bloodied Gulf for whatever grand quest they sought out. Well, it didn’t work out for them considering that they were dead. And since they were dead, the artifacts probably sucked. Seriously, I bet they were Medium Grade at most!

I picked up a bracelet off an arm and used [Identification] on it.

[Cast Fireball of the August Archmage Alyssa: Former High Grade Weapon - A one time use bracelet enchanted with the fiery magic of Archmage Alyssa, founder of Mavos Academy. It has already been used, but its residual magic and enchantment can be studied by a keen [Mage].]

“Huh. Nevermind, I guess.”

Apparently, the adventurers who came to the Bloodied Gulf were well-prepared. Most of their artifacts were, unfortunately, inert, but they had powerful magic imbued in them once. The adventurers just weren’t cut out for surviving such a dangerous place.

I strolled over the corpses, tapping a finger on my chin.

“But why is it a Lair? And why are all the corpses gathered here, anyway?”

I had many questions. I found it odd as I sifted through the bodies. It was odd— I’d have thought that most of them would already have decomposed by now. However, despite their rotting appearance, none of them seemed any closer to turning into skeletal remains than the others. Not only that, but there was also no stench. Corpses normally radiated a distinct smell which Humans hated. I didn’t understand their repulsion to it, but I knew the smell. I recognized the smell.

But I didn’t smell anything like that, here.

Even the bodies of sea creatures had the same blackened texture to their corpses. Like they’d been dried of all the moisture in their body— desiccated and left to forever rot in this chamber.

I did manage to gather quite a few artifacts that seemed like they’d be useful, and they actually worked too, which was always good. The first was an axe with a glowing crystalline edge; it was remarkably cleaned and polished, despite the mess of a body I took it from.

[The Juggernaut’s Bane: High Grade Weapon - An axe that has been enchanted with powerful spatial magic. When its effects are activated, it can grow up to ten times its size and inflict additional spatial magic damage.]

I wasn’t sure if I’d actually use it in battle, I just knew that it’d be good to study, especially since it was a High Grade artifact imbued with a space magic enchantment. And considering that I now knew basic rune work, maybe I could learn a thing or two for my own Nebular or even Primordial weapons.

There were arrows, too. Bolts that were golden and glowing in the dark room. I picked them off a dead [Archer]’s body, curious as to their effects. They were another set of High Grade artifacts, of course. But surprisingly enough, they weren’t one-time use items.

[Recursion Bolt of Greater Piercing: High Grade Weapon - An arrow that is enchanted to teleport back to the user after use. It is also enchanted with greater piercing.]

“So, if I do this—”

I nocked one of the arrows into my Nebular Bow. I only had four of them. I loosed one and it struck against the side wall. With a tug of my finger, I recalled the Recursion Bolt of Greater Piercing back into my bow as I pulled it back once more. The arrow appeared and was instantly fired once more.

“Interesting, so I can rapid fire the arrows, huh?”

I repeated it multiple times, and the arrows were always instantly nocked and ready to be loosed when I recalled them. I grinned as I kept the first two weapons in my [Dimension Pocket].

Those were good— useful, even. Unfortunately, not everything I found was particularly useful. Although, some of them seemed valuable like a Glove of Heat Resistance. I thought they’d give me some sort of Heat Resistance effect, but apparently only the gloves were resistant to heat. Probably something a [Blacksmith] would use. I kept those too, just to give to Daniel when I next saw him.

He’d probably want me to sell it. Maybe I’d trade them for something I really wanted, at most. But I wasn’t going to go through the entire process of selling things since that usually took a while.

There were other valuable items. A few protective artifacts, but none of them could be added on to pof the Breastplate of Alexander. I kept those, though. Not for selling or giving to Daniel, but in case the Breastplate of Alexander broke or something happened to its enchantment.

Other than that, I also got myself a pair of boots and a cloak.

[Speedster’s Boots: Medium Grade Armor - Increases [Agility] by +5 and [Endurance] by +3 when worn.]

It wasn’t the biggest boost, but it was still helpful. And as for the cloak—

[Shrouded Veil: Medium Grade - Makes the user harder to spot when staying hidden.]

That was good. It’d help me hide better if I ever wanted to avoid a fight.

I put on the boots and cloak, grinning as I looked over my new Status. I was much stronger now compared to when I first arrived in the Bloodied Gulf. I’d leveled quite a bit, however I still hadn’t gotten a Grand Skill. I was hoping to get a Grand Skill by Level 125— although, considering I had no direction whatsoever here, I wasn't sure if that was possible.

I continued to explore the Lair, searching for any sign of Centinel life since it was, well, a Lair. And it took me a while to even find the semblance of a Centinel. However, it wasn’t what I expected.

Normal Lairs were typically filled with the vibrant eggs of Centinels. This one didn’t have any of those. Instead, it was also populated with the corpses of Centinels. I found myself turning over the rotting bodies of the dead Centinels— dessicated, no different from the dead bodies of everything else I found here.

“Weird.”

I tapped a finger on my chin, curious. It wasn’t the largest Lair; it was a circular cave chamber that was about a hundred feet from one end to the other. So, I had explored about everything there was to explore at this point. It had piqued my interest. I wanted to know what made this Lair different. So, I decided to wait.

I sat in the shadows, hidden by my new [Shrouded Veil] and waited for a Centinel— any Centinel, really— to show up in the Centinels Cornucopia. After all, it was a Lair that belonged to them, so surely a Centinel or two would show up at one point, right?

Well, I wasn’t sure how long I waited, but even after quite a bit of time had passed, nothing showed up. I grew bored eventually and passed the time looking through the non-valuable items most of the corpses had on them. I found a few books— diaries and the like— and kept them with [Dimensional Pocket]. Honestly, I was glad I got that Skill because it was very convenient.

I could even use it to change what I was wearing in an instant!

After what felt like forever, something finally decided to show up. I heard the soft clicking of Centinel footsteps approach, and I immediately hid myself. I waited patiently for the figure to draw closer. From the shadows, I spotted a familiar [Evolved Centinel] make its way into the Centinels Cornucopia.

It was the Level 135 [Evolved Centinel]. It skittered in with its undulating lower body typical of a Centinel, but with an upper body that was more akin to a Human or a Cyclops. It carried in its arms a large sea creature— some kind of giant squid that had spikes poking out of its pores.

The [Evolved Centinel] tossed the body onto the top of the pile as its carapace drew back. I blinked, watching tendrils emerge from beneath its carapace and reach for the squid.

Is it… eating the body?

Wait, no— it wasn’t eating the squid. It was… sucking something from it? A glow. An aura. But not any kind of magic I’d ever seen.

And the [Evolved Centinel]’s form changed.